Back to Tokyo for the second part of this trip, and to meet my new group. A very small group this time, just 2 others plus the guide. As the others were both men it meant I got my own room without paying for it – result!!

We joined the Monday morning crush on the Tokyo subway to get to Tokyo station to catch another Shinkansen which will whizz us the near 700km / 435 miles north to Aomori in just over 3 hours.

The scenery changed and we said goodbye to the blossoms as we hurtled north, passing rice fields and, later, snow capped peaks.

A slightly exciting moment as the train came to a sudden halt just outside of a station and all the power went off. There had been an earthquake out to sea and the train stopped for about 15 minutes as the tracks were checked. All was fine and we carried on and still arrived in Aomori by lunchtime.

Certainly a change in temperature here compared to my first week or so in Japan. And indeed to the last 5 months of my travels. I was very glad for the coat I’d bought when I got to Tokyo. In Aomori it was cold enough for me to buy some thermal lined trousers, a hat and some gloves, which I would be extremely grateful for in a few days time…

The northern part of Honshu, and Hokkaido, has amazing seafood, and for lunch we went to Aomori Nokkedon, a fish market where you can create your own rice bowl lunch by buying some tickets and exchanging them at the various stalls as you go round the market. Some of the freshest sashimi I’ve ever had, absolutely delicious.

In the afternoon we went to the Sannai Maruyama archeological site, which preserves how the Jōmon peoples lived in this area 5000-6000 years ago. It’s still being excavated and it was very interesting to see what has been found and how these people lived.

That evening we had more seafood for dinner, and there was some live music at the restaurant, using a traditional Japanese shamisen – a 3-stringed instrument. There was also a chap in traditional costume who got us all up dancing in a line around the restaurant, surprisingly exhausting!!

The next day we headed to nearby Hirosaki on the train for the day. We started at an indigo-dyeing workshop, which is one of the traditional crafts in this area. The place we went to had these great big vats of indigo dye stewing away. I opted for tie-dye and I was much happier with my attempts here than at the previous tie-dyeing in Thailand.

We then went to the Tsugaru-han Neputa museum which contains these enormous lanterns which are used every August in the Nebuta Matsuri festival, which must be a lot of fun. The lanterns are beautifully decorated but I couldn’t get over how big they were!

After a warming bowl of soba noodles in a cafe for lunch, we then had a brief wander around the outside of Hirosaki Castle, which is under renovation for the next 8 years (I think!). As part of the renovations, they’ve actually moved the castle from its original position whilst the ground is being reinforced. Pretty surreal to think this building has been moved!

We also had a traditional Japanese tea ceremony, kneeling on the tatami mats, and being very calm and precise in making the tea and drinking it. A very serene experience.

Back to Aomori in the late afternoon, and a yakitori dinner.

The next morning was my final Shinkansen of this trip as we made the 1 hour journey under the sea from Honshu to Hokkaido and to the current northern terminus of the Shinkansen at Hakodate. Work is ongoing to extend to Sapporo in the next few years, at which point it will probably be faster to take the train from Sapporo to Tokyo rather than fly, by the time you’ve factored in hanging around at an airport, which is a bit mad really.

We were in Hakodate by mid morning and dropped our bags at the hotel. We took a tram to Goryokaku Tower and went to the observation deck where you get great views over the city, and of Goryokaku fort directly below. The fort is in a star-shaped design and apparently influenced by European designs. In a couple of weeks, the cherry blossoms will be bursting forth, outlining the fort in beautiful pink blossoms.

We had some free time after lunch and I wandered around part of the historic port of Hakodate, to the red brick warehouses which now house an assortment of shops and restaurants. As we were on the coast, it was quite breezy, and the architecture here is very European, it made me feel quite at home!

In the evening after dinner we went to the Hakodate Ropeway (cable car) and timed it perfectly to get to the top in time for sunset. We, and hundreds of others, then hung around for about half an hour for it to get properly dark as you then get great views of Hakodate lit up at night. After getting our photos we then tried to beat the rush back down in the cable cars and called it a night.

I’m already really glad I decided to come north on this trip. It’s a lot quieter than the traditional tourist route though southern Honshu, but has spectacular scenery and great food. Next up, a couple of days in onsen territory…